On April 9, Lefortovskiy district Moscow court prolonged detention of Alexander Kolchenko for a month, till May, 16. On May 16 a year will pass away since Kolchenko had been arrested in the Simferopol center as a terrorist attack suspect. 22/05/2014 he had been sent to Moscow together with other defendants and had been held in a pretrial detention center "Lefortovo" since then.
According to the FSB, Alexander Kolchenko is a member of the anti-Russian underground in Crimea. Along with three other arrested residents of the peninsula, he has been accused of terrorism. The New Times has tried to find out what the charges are based on (it took nearly a year to gather the evidence), how the Russian security services took over Crimea, and what residents of Simferopol think about the relatives of the arrestees.
I'm at home now after a night spent at the police department. Me and three of my comrades were arrested for showing our disapproval to Nazis, who came to the International Russian Conservative Forum that was held in Holiday Inn, St. Petersburg 22nd of March. If you don't know what was hidden behind their "traditional values" discourse, you can read this article.
In the center of Helsinki, at the building of Holiday Inn, action of anarchists took place against a conference of far-right parties, which took place in Holiday Inn of St. Petersburg. Around 15 participators encouraged a boycott of hotel chain.
Before the St. Petersburg forum, many protest letters were sent to management of the hotel chain, but with no reaction. Leaflets were distributed and passers by were told about the right-wing conference which took place in St. Petersburg. Leaflets were also passed to reception of the hotel.
Alexander Kolchenko is a Crimean anarchist, social activist and antifascist who is held in captivity by the Russian authorities. Along with other Crimean activists, he has been kidnapped by the Russian FSB (ex-KGB) and is now detained as a political hostage in Lefortovo jail in Moscow. He is charged with committing “acts of terrorism” and “belonging to a terrorist community”.
Team Spartak Nalchik has never been a serious financial support like Anji Makhachkala, but his mark in the history of football in the Caucasus it postponed. We hope that the trend created in these years, will continue to evolve in Nalchik. At the very least, any precedent antifascist ultras in the former USSR and, especially, in Russia deserves a detailed review.
- How long you support Spartak?
Ilya Romanov, a 46-years old Russian anarchist, has been under arrest for more than a year for now, from October 29, 2013. He is charged with an attempt of a terrorist attack (art.30 of 205.1 of Russian Criminal Code) and of illegal manufacturing of explosives (222.1 CC). He declares that his rigths are badly violated. In violation of the law courts held behind closed doors, the investigation takes unreasonably long, and all his complaints rejected. His imprisonment was continued till February 26, 2015.
The story of this interview is different from how interviews are usually recorded. The person answering the questions is in the place not very accessible for journalists – Lefortovo Moscow Pretrial Detention Facility that is still known as RF FSB SIZO (RF FSB SIZO - pre-trial detention facility of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation – transl.).
Lefortovo is the prison that has both special detention conditions and special security measures.
This text was written as an answer to our foreign friends' questions about situation in the Eastern Ukraine and Russian anarchists' attitude towards that. We hope it will be of use to everybody interested in these matters.
The situation is complex and controversial and you should understand that the text below does not (and can't) reflect the opinion of all Russian anti-fascists and anti-capitalists. We discussed this within our group, but even here we have a couple of contradicting points of view.
After the drawing play-off round of the Europa League, it became clear that the Cyprus Omonia will hold two games with the Dynamo Moscow. This meant that the legendary fan is association Gate 9 will come to us in Russia. These guys are known far beyond the borders of their country as because of its hot support for the club, and because of the anti-fascist views. Well, I as a fan of Greek-style ultras and anti-fascist initiatives on the football tribunes decided for the sake of the holiday to come to Moscow for a few days.
Stop the war and human rights violations!
Meeting on September 8 at the Kolme Seppää -statue at 6.00 PM from where we will walk to Russian embassy at Tehtaankatu.
During July and August, more and more proof has emerged about the Russian involvement in the war in Ukraine, and on the 24th of August Russian troops crossed the Ukrainian border and and began the offensive towards Mariupol. More than 2000 people have already died in the war, and the Russian assault worsens things.
We continue our regular summaries on repressions of anarchists, antifascists, and social activists in Russia, on obstacles which police state creates for our activity.
On 3 July Dzmitry Rezanovich was fined with 15 000 russian rubles and deportation from Russia. It is still unclear for how long it will be forbidden for Dzmitry to enter the russian territory.
The deportation date was not announced yet and some sources point that it is possible only after the fine will be payed. The relatives already got papers to do so.
We would like to thank everyone who supported Dzmitry financially and morally.
ABC-Belarus
We continue to publish news about repressions against anarchists, antifascists and social activists and about the obstacles we face from the side of police state. In February, March and April issue you can read about Maidan ghost, letters from the prisons and senseless trials. If you recognize that we've missed anything or you are informed about other cases of repressions, let us know by writing to address abc-msk <> riseup.net.
For costs of all the listed cases, besides indicated internet purses, you may donate money via ABC-Moscow. Check
From now on, we are going to publish summaries of repressions against anarchists, antifascists and social activists in Russia on a regular basis, as well as on how the state opposes our activity. In the January-February issue: sudden amnesty of antifascists in Moscow, Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, attempt to ban "Avtonom" zine due to
Anarchists, organizers of demonstration "Against the war in Ukraine" in Petrozavodsk, Russia were kidnapped and seriously injured by unknown people in masks.
On 9th of March, along with the traditional Food Not Bombs action, demonstration "Against the war in Ukraine" supposed to happen in Petrozavodsk, for a peaceful solution of tense situation there and prevention of bloodshed continuation.
We went and dropped two banners as a protest against treatment of Bolotnaya square demonstrators.
A sentence for Bolotnaya case is expected next monday, 24rd of December.
Our action was also in solidarity for all political prisoners.
Freedom for all political prisoners!
Anarchist Black Cross Helsinki on Sunday 23rd February, 2014
Interview with anarchist prisoners in the so-called "Bolotnaya Case", former sailor Alexei Polikhovich, 22 (pictured), and historian Stepan Zimin, 21. They are amongst the many people charged with participation in the May 6, 2012 clashes with police during an opposition rally in Moscow's Bolotnaya Square. Both face a sentence of five-and-a-half year in penal colony, having spent over a year in pre-trial detention.
On Friday 10th of January Basmanniy district court of Moscow ceased criminal case against Alexey Olesinov, Alexey Sutuga, Alyon Volikov and Babken Guskasyan. All four were accused of “hooliganism”, a criminal offense which is included in the amnesty bill, approved as a PR stunt on initiative of Vladimir Putin himself in advent of the Sochi Winter Olympics – most known amnestied political prisoners being 30 detainees of the Arctic Sunrise ship of Greenpeace, and two imprisoned members of Pussy Riot.
28th of November Lenin district court of the city of Tyumen uphold a request of the prosecutor of the Lenin district on recognition a text I wrote two years ago as “extremist”.
In September 2024, I gave a presentation in Dresden about struggles against the right-wing government in Finland. Freedom published a text based on that presentation last September, but due to character limitations I had to skip an introduction to the Finnish party system. This background is...
Repression targets Chita anarchists already jailed for war resistance and anti-regime graffiti The regional prosecutor’s office for the Trans-Baikal region in eastern Siberia has submitted a petition to a local court to recognize the “Trans-Baikal Left Association” as a terrorist...
Thousands of Russians have been fighting against the invasion to Ukraine. During first month of protests against the war, 15 000 people were detained. Small street actions are still sporadically taking place, although they are heavily persecuted. More than 300 people have been imprisoned for anti-...
Translation: volunteers of Autonomous Action. «» The history of solidarity networks in Russia began in 2013, when activists from Autonomous Action and Antijob, most likely members of the Barnaul cell, found information on the internet about the Seattle Solidarity Networks. After studying...